Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts announced that the team plans to unveil a Ryne Sandberg statue outside Wrigley Field, but wouldn’t touch Sammy Sosa questions.
Ryne Sandberg will be the fifth such statue outside of Wrigley, joining the likes of Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins. The Baseball Hall of Famer played all but one season with the Cubs — his first — and made 10 All-Star teams as a Cubbie. He also won an NL MVP, was a seven-time Silver Slugger and a nine-time Gold Glove award winner.
Sandberg really could do it all, and deserves his spot in Chicago’s ring of honor, of sorts.
“To be part of a structure and be a part of Wrigley Field, that means so much to me because Wrigley Field was always my friend and so friendly to me,” Sandberg said Saturday. “I loved the atmosphere and the fans and WGN TV and 162 games broadcast, and the whole thing about it and the day games. I liked everything about that. And I think the biggest thing is it’s still the Wrigley Field that I know.”
Cubs honor Ryne Sandberg, won’t talk Sammy Sosa
At CubsCon, fans asked about any potential return of Sammy Sosa in the organization’s good graces. Sosa has essentially been ex-communicated from Chicago baseball since he left, and his steroid use was revealed to the world in the Mitchell Report.
Sosa will not make the Baseball Hall of Fame, barring anything unforeseen. For him to not be welcomed back by the Cubs, the team he spent the majority of his career with, is just cruel.
Technically, Sosa is eligible. Heck, even if Chicago doesn’t want him in the Cubs Hall of Fame due to his questionable relationship with teammates and past PED usage, they could at least invite him back for a game. If not for their sake, then do it for Sosa’s everlasting relationship with the fans who grew up with him.
The feud has gone too far.